Bruce Springsteen’s favourite song by The Rolling Stones: “It was a very important record”
The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen are two of music’s most beloved veterans. Despite being positioned as elder statesmen of rock, they are still brimming with more energy than most people half their age and seem blessed with immortality.
Getting to the top of the musical mountain is one almighty challenge, but staying there for several decades, like Springsteen and The Stones, is a far more challenging ordeal that few have managed to achieve. Their respective longevity is a testament to the quality of their output, which lives in the hearts and souls of millions across the globe.
Springsteen is a special kind of artist, which is why he can get away with being called ‘The Boss’ and not be lambasted as an egotistical maniac. He has rightfully earned his spot at the head of the executive table through a combination of powerful songs, gifted showmanship, and earnest performances. This has seen Springsteen be rightly revered as one of the finest rockers of his generation, charting a career that can count five decades under its belt.
The singer-songwriter made his name by championing the very beating heart of Americana and laying it out for all to see. His songs have always hung on one pertinent facet: honesty. As such, it’s a trait he has taken into all of his work outside of music, too, especially when on the promotion trail. It means he’s never been afraid to share his love for the artists that inspired him.
Whether it was his all-time favourite songwriter, Bob Dylan, whose album Highway 61 Revisited shook him to his very soul or, indeed, his adoration of ‘The King’, Elvis Presley. Famously, Springsteen even broke into Graceland one fateful night to try and play a song for Presley. Naturally, it did not end well. Along with those two icons, Springsteen has a soft spot for one of rock ‘n’ roll’s true pioneers, The Rolling Stones.
The breadth of his love for Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman came to the fore when he appeared on the acclaimed BBC 4 Radio show Desert Island Discs.
During the conversation, where stars are asked to pick out eight songs they simply couldn’t live without, Springsteen noted his love for bands like The Beatles and The Four Tops as well as Marvin Gaye and James Brown, who sat nicely among the aforementioned idols. It’s clear that the sixties truly shaped Springsteen.
The Boss continued to pick out some of the finest artists from the 1960s, as his third choice was The Rolling Stones’ ‘It’s All Over Now’. While the track isn’t as popular as other hits in their treasured canon, such as ‘I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)’, ‘Paint It, Black’ or ‘Gimme Shelter’, it means the most to Springsteen.
It also proves his credentials as a superfan rather than a fairweather follower who only listened to the singles rather than appreciating their entire albums.
During the same interview, Springsteen solidified his love of The Rolling Stones by recalling a teenage tribute to the band’s founding member: “I would use my mother’s hair clips to pin my hair down, then I would sleep on it exactly right, because I had Italian curly hair, so I would pin it down until it was as straight as Brian Jones’.”
He’s still a Stones fan to this day, but ‘It’s All Over Now’ had a more poignant role in Springsteen’s life as a younger man. The singer-songwriter explained: “(It) held a special place for me because when I got thrown out of my first band, I went home that night and I was pissed off, so I said ‘All right I’m going to be a lead guitar player’. And for some reason, that solo felt like something I might be able to manage. I put the record on, and I sat there all night until I was able to scrape up some relatively decent version of Keith’s solo. It was a very important record for me as it was the first solo I ever learned.”
Though Springsteen isn’t particularly known for his command of the guitar, it would be remiss not to note this song as a flash of inspiration for the young songwriter. Not only did it provide him with a practice sheet to help perfect his guitar playing, but it also proved that rock ‘n’ roll was in his blood.
The love between Springsteen and The Stones is a mutual affair. When the legendary English rockers stopped by New Jersey for a show in 2012, they called up the area’s favourite son, who joined the band to perform ‘Tumbling Dice’. While The Rolling Stones have inspired too many artists to count, only a select few have been allowed to become an honorary Stone for the night, like Springsteen.
